yeah sorry about that. I didnt figure that you had the unicrown, but your last post is telling if you think it feels better than any other rigid fork. good enough of a review/comparison for me. Nice to see a review of the frame.

I would not say it is better than any other fork. It feels different from every other fork I personally have tried. It is much more rigid when standing on the front wheel. There is none of the fore-aft resonance that is often seen under braking on a rigid. I would say it rides harsh, but I think all rigid forks pretty much ride harsh and am certainly no fork snob. To me rigid is rigid.

I would like to try a Niner carbon because it is super light and seems to be designed to alleviate the same fore-aft thing.

Originally Posted by buddhak

And I thought I had a bike obsession. You are at once tragic and awesome.

I got out for a more woodsy ride this afternoon with the spawn. He noticed the "Jones" sticker sparkled in rainbow colors in direct sun, but I never saw it. Apparently it glows in the dark also:

Nice touch.

I didn't get much up to speed, but climbing felt like pretty much every bike, and the few times I got up to speed descending, it was super predictable with lots of front end grip. When the front lost traction, it was easy and predictable to manage it. Tire pressures are too high and I got a bit of a beating.

Originally Posted by buddhak

And I thought I had a bike obsession. You are at once tragic and awesome.

To answer the first question, Yes I ride a Paradox, MSRP is $600 for them.

As to the cost of the Jones, no I guess when you have other steel frames in that price range (not that I'd pay that for any of them since you can get a custom steel for about $800), but that was not what was being thrown about when they were being talked about, much, much higher. Also, then you have steel frames & fork for under $500 like the KM, so also, yes it's a lot. The there's the biggest BS of only being in one size, I mean really, now all of a sudden a 5'6" person should ride the same size bike as a 6'2" person? Give me a break.

Originally Posted by chromagnus

Dont you ride a paradox? Those are 600$ and the Jones are 750 for frame and fork and bushnell bb. Doesn't get spendy until you add a truss fork then it is 1100.

Yep, I've thought about getting one for mine at some point as well. Now if only it came with 15mm axle option too.

I think Ragley is working on something like that.

Despite the fork, the Bystickel and the Jones are on opposite ends of the stiffness spectrum of bikes I have owned. The Bystickel feels a lot like my Zion brand steel frame or an On-One Inbred. A bit flexy, and I can wind up the rear, but man it is comfy. The Jones is close to the Simon Bar: mega stiff, punishing, and precise. A Karate Monkey would be in between. The stays on the Jones dwarf the Zion/Stickel stays. This thing is pretty overbuilt. That's probably why Aqua hasn't broken his yet.

I don't think there is a right answer for how stiff is just perfect, and how stiff is too stiff but I think riders will definitely have their preferences.

Stiff=more punishing
Flexy= slightly less punishing

Originally Posted by buddhak

And I thought I had a bike obsession. You are at once tragic and awesome.

To answer the first question, Yes I ride a Paradox, MSRP is $600 for them.

As to the cost of the Jones, no I guess when you have other steel frames in that price range (not that I'd pay that for any of them since you can get a custom steel for about $800), but that was not what was being thrown about when they were being talked about, much, much higher. Also, then you have steel frames & fork for under $500 like the KM, so also, yes it's a lot. The there's the biggest BS of only being in one size, I mean really, now all of a sudden a 5'6" person should ride the same size bike as a 6'2" person? Give me a break.

Custom steel bike for 800? Comparing to a KM (which is a POS IMO)?

As to being only one size, if it doesn't fit, don't buy it. 750 for a frame and fork is not that much.

I was not out on my Jones today, but I did see 2 steel spaceframe big front wheel Jones on there maiden ride. A father and son combo that I see often and have talked loads about my Jones have purchased them. One was black and on was blue.... Geared though. They looked sharp... To be honest, I am not a fan of the big front wheel....

Besides a couple short shakedown rides last week, my first real ride on this thing occurred in Sedona this past weekend with Aqua. I felt comfortable on the bike immediately and charged the thing hard from what was essentially my second hour on the bike. I felt comfortable in technical high consequence terrain, in standing climbing, and at high speeds.

This frame and fork combo rides unlike any I have ever ridden. The front end stiffness/tracking is simply off the charts beyond any other combo I have tried. It's not even close.

The magical combination of the short A-C, long head tube, triangulated, double clamped truss fork, and 135 front wheel spacing yields a precise, planted feel with minimal fork flex/wiggle under braking and under side loads.

I did a little experiment in the garage last night. I took my four rigid bikes and held the front brake and balanced them on the front wheel, and just pushed up and down until I found the resonant frequency where they would vibrate back and forth a bit. It is in the range of 2-3 herz for these bikes.

Bystickel/On-One carbon fork vibrated the slowest, and by far the most, even bouncing up off the ground if I kept it going at the resonant frequency. I tried it again with a Steel fork it felt less flexy, and the vibration frequency was a bit higher.

Karate Monkey Frame/fork was about the same as the Stickel/steel fork.

Aluminum frame/Carbon fork vibrated still a little faster and felt less flexy.

Jones frame/truss fork flexed an order of magnitude less than any of the other combos and the frequency was out of the ball park higher than the other frames.

Perhaps what I am noticing is the difference between a suspension corrected versus non-corrected frame? I am open to input here because I simply can't believe how dramatic the difference is with this bike.

I have never had a non-corrected frame before, and am open to anyone's thoughts...

It is such a random fluke that I even own this thing. My curiosity was stimulated from a very short parking lot demo on Aqua's frame that I got in October. I was impressed enough from 1 minute on his bike to want to try it for myself. Without that brief demo ride I never would have ordered a Jones in the first place (seriously, I have enough bikes). I would probably still be riding in ignorant bliss.

There is also no way I would spend the money for a custom Jones. Simply too much $$ for my taste (not to mention the wait and the closed waiting list!). When I heard about the Taiwan deal, I figured the price was fair enough and snapped one up.

The Jones is a laser focused rigid "All Mountain" bike. I wanted to poo poo it as an exercise in marketing/swoopiness over substance (seriously, I bought it to test with every intention of not liking it and reselling it again fairly fast). Unfortunately I am completely impressed with the way it rides. I have never ridden a rigid bike that rides as well.

Downsides so far: It's a bit heavy, 27.2 seat tube won't accept my 5" dropper post, the frame can never use a suspension fork, the cockpit is a little tight standing, and a little long seated, the slack STA doesn't suit me much for seated riding, and the stays' minimum length is 16.9" (maybe 16.85"). It rides very firm and does not coddle you. I feel it rewards a more aggressive rider and comes more alive the harder it is pushed.

For those waiting for their frames: Sucks to be you right now , but I think you will be very pleased as they arrive over the next month or so.

Last edited by Enel; 02-16-2011 at 10:15 AM.

Originally Posted by buddhak

And I thought I had a bike obsession. You are at once tragic and awesome.

When I bought my Jones - it was a complete leap of faith - I'd never even ridden a 29er before

When I spoke to Jeff - he explained the advantages of the truss fork - I was thinking that it can't make that much difference surely?

Enel - you should try a fatty on it - adds a whole new dimension to the bike - you'll have two bikes for the price of 1! I love the way the Larry rolls over just about anything - after a few weeks on the Larry - I swap over to a 29er wheel and enjoy the extra speed and nimbleness that brings

I don't think I can tell. Theoretically it should be a stronger, more durable wheel, but I can't remember the last time I killed a front.

Do nicked sliders on a Marz 44 count as a "kill" from rock gouges? Arizona kills everything. You either get stung, spined, cooked, baked, or ground up on the rocks and minerals out there, it's rough country on equipment.